Huge Meteor Blazes Across Sky Over Russia; Sonic Boom Shatters Windows

[Texstar]

Apparently, at about 09:30 local time, a very big meteor burned up over Chelyabinsk, a city in Russia just east of the Ural mountains, and about 1500 kilometers east of Moscow. The fireball was incredibly bright, rivaling the Sun!

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/02/15/breaking_huge_meteor_explodes_over_russia.html

[veronicathecow]

I'm pretty sure I have watched this scene on Stargate SG1!
Scary stuff! Apparently there is a nuke reactor in that area that luckily wasn't hit.
From the bbc webite
"And a few years before that, an 80-tonne space rock called 2008 TC3 ploughed into the Earth's atmosphere, largely burning up and scattering fragments over the Sudan - just 20 hours after it was discovered."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21459861
Didn't realise how little warning we get on these small ones, if any.

[Just17]

Apparently, at about 09:30 local time, a very big meteor burned up over Chelyabinsk, a city in Russia just east of the Ural mountains, and about 1500 kilometers east of Moscow. The fireball was incredibly bright, rivaling the Sun!

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/02/15/breaking_huge_meteor_explodes_over_russia.html

Wow!

I can only imagine the potential for panic these days with such a bright light and a sonic boom ...... 

[ThirdOfSix]

It just takes me back to my younger days during the "cold war".

I can't help but wonder what would have happened if this thing had come down between Korea and Japan.

Today's media being what it is there would likely have been a lot of "news" broadcasts with the talking heads making outrageous speculations.

[Just17]

Reports here state that the meteor came down on a doube-decker bus, killing those on board.

[Texstar]

Reports here state that the meteor came down on a doube-decker bus, killing those on board.

The things I'm reading say the meteor was the size of a double-decker bus.

[Just17]

Reports here state that the meteor came down on a doube-decker bus, killing those on board.

The things I'm reading say the meteor was the size of a double-decker bus.

Probably a mis-representation here .....  wouldn't be the first time they got things wrong 

[µT6]

"I'm pretty sure I have watched this scene on Stargate SG1!"

yes, sg1 made us really open minded to weird things

"Scary stuff! Apparently there is a nuke reactor in that area that luckily wasn't hit."

if the reactor would have been hit, poor people, another chernobyl if the cooling system of the reactor failed, luckily it didn't happened

atm i haven't seen reports of deceases caused by the impact, but it seems that smaller parts of it did touched ground and some smaller craters were found in the area

the panic should have incredible, probably some believed that a terrorist attack was happening, another that it was a nuclear icbm and the rest that it wasn't 2012, it was 2013 the end of the world

i hope most people could fix roofs, windows and similar stuff, it is night already there, really cold night

[joechimp]

How come these things always fall in Russia ?

[veronicathecow]

Very big magnets...

[nitrogen_widget]

I'm pretty sure I have watched this scene on Stargate SG1!
Scary stuff! Apparently there is a nuke reactor in that area that luckily wasn't hit.
From the bbc webite
"And a few years before that, an 80-tonne space rock called 2008 TC3 ploughed into the Earth's atmosphere, largely burning up and scattering fragments over the Sudan - just 20 hours after it was discovered."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21459861
Didn't realise how little warning we get on these small ones, if any.

Didn't realize an 80-tonne space rock is consider small. 

[YouCanToo]

I'm pretty sure I have watched this scene on Stargate SG1!
Scary stuff! Apparently there is a nuke reactor in that area that luckily wasn't hit.

It is a plutonium storage site, not a nuclear reactor. Also there is a chemical storage site close by also.

From the bbc webite
"And a few years before that, an 80-tonne space rock called 2008 TC3 ploughed into the Earth's atmosphere, largely burning up and scattering fragments over the Sudan - just 20 hours after it was discovered."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21459861
Didn't realize how little warning we get on these small ones, if any.

[YouCanToo]

It just takes me back to my younger days during the "cold war".

I can't help but wonder what would have happened if this thing had come down between Korea and Japan.

Today's media being what it is there would likely have been a lot of "news" broadcasts with the talking heads making outrageous speculations.

There has already been outrageous speculations about this being a new secret missile test by the United States!

[µT6]

i just saw this video on news

that wall fell thanks to the blast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ2XXa5oFhw

and this one from 0:15

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kvHl5Qcnzc (Embedding disabled, limit reached)

it was colossal the amount of air moved in the blast

[weirdwolf]

How come these things always fall in Russia ?

Not always, just seems that way
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Mediterranean_event
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_TC3
Plus we have them beat with Meteor Crater
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/images/meteorcrater.html

The latest from NASA that I know of

Based on the duration of the event, it was a very shallow entry. It was larger than the meteor over Indonesia on Oct. 8, 2009. Measurements are still coming in, and a more precise measure of the energy may be available later. The size of the object before hitting the atmosphere was about 49 feet (15 meters) and had a mass of about 7,000 tons.
 
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-061

From Wired Danger Room

There Is No Way to Stop Space Rocks From Hurtling to Earth and Killing You
Space is out to kill you. There is no way to stem its aggression. But it’s usually an incompetent killer, so don’t freak out.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/02/russia-meteor/

Anyone else notice all the shows on comets and meteor impacts on "The History Channel" the last few days?